The Future of Camp (COMPLETED)

Meeting

"I can do this," Eva muttered to herself. "It's not like they're an army of giants."

She chuckled a little at herself. She could face down an army of Greek monsters, but she was nervous about knocking on a door? Ridiculous.

She took three deep breaths, gave herself a quick pep talk, and rang the doorbell.

Chris's POV

"She's here!" Clara said. "Want me to get it?"

Chris shook his head. "No. I should." He rushed the the door and opened it to see a teenage girl.

She was sixteen, he'd been expecting that. But he didn't see how this girl could be his sister.

He remembered her as a little, giggling, bouncing six-year-old, her blonde hair in pigtails and with her front tooth missing. He hadn't expected her to look so... teenagery.

She wore a simple grey hoodie that was slightly too big on her, shorts, and high tops. Her grey eyes were steely and guarded, her hair was loose, long, and straight, dyed red at the tips. She had a small suitcase and a backpack, which was about it.

What was the most surprising were her scars.

Her legs were covered in them, short, white little marks. She had one on her cheek, faint. He couldn't see her arms, but he guessed she'd have those there, too.

She smiled, but it was close-lipped and nervous. "Um, hi?"

"Hey," he said. They stood there in awkward silence.

"Chris, don't be rude," said Clara. "Invite her in."

"Oh, um, right. Come in," he said, opening the door a little wider and stepping to the side.

She looked around, her grey eyes scanning everything with a slightly terrifying intensity. Chris wondered if her foster home(s?) had been abusive.

Eva's POV

Eva could tell the exact moment when Chris saw her scars, and cursed herself for not borrowing concealer or something from the Aphrodite cabin and covering them up. Too late now.

The apartment was nice. Clean, organized, which she liked: it reminded her of the Athena cabin back home. Modern: white furniture, walls, carpet. Bursts of color here and there: a rainbow abstract picture on the wall, a vase of flowers on the coffee table. The entrance opened right into the living room, one wall of which was pure window, so you could see across all of New York City. To the right was a kitchen, and in front was a small hallway with three doors. Eva assumed two were bedrooms and one was a bathroom. Overall, neat, tidy, and nothing like a home.

Clara was sitting on one of the couches. She was pretty: dirty blonde hair, blue eyes, fair skin coated in freckles. She smiled with perfectly straight, white teeth.

Chris looked exactly like she remembered, just older: brown hair that was artfully mussed, green eyes, fair complexion. Nobody would look at them, Eva with her honey blonde hair, grey eyes, and deep tan, and think they were siblings. Then again, Chris got his looks from their father and his mother, and Eva took after her mom completely, just like all of her other half siblings.

Clara smiled. "Hi, Eva, how's it going? It's so nice to meet you! Here, we have a room for you." She spoke without taking a breath, but between Eva's ADHD and Malcolm's tendency to do the same thing, she had no problem following.

She followed Clara down the hall to find the room for her. It was small, but seemed spacious to Eva, who'd shared a cabin with her siblings most of her life. A good-sized window looking out over the NYC skyline (in the direction of Camp Half-Blood, she'd have to try to find it), desk by the window, bed, shelves on one wall, a dresser, and a closet.

"Here," Clara said. "And we'll have to enroll you in high school, too-"

Eva cut her off. "Goode High School. I want to go to Goode High School. Please."

Clara looked pleasantly surprised. "You've been doing your research! Any particular reason you like that one?"

Annabeth and Percy. People I know.

"It just seems like a nice school," she said instead.

Chris trailed behind them, quiet. He never was one for words. Clara did most of the talking, which he seemed fine with.

Clara stepped back. "We'll let you unpack, and then we can talk! Seems like you two have a lot of catching up to do."

Eva smiled, stepped into the room, and closed the door, tossing her bags on the bed. Everything in the room was white. Maybe they could get some paint or posters or something. Though who was she kidding: it'd all be grey, like home.

"No," she whispered to herself. "This is home now."

The only thing that felt remotely homey was Leo's hoodie. It smelled exactly like him, just as he'd hoped.

She pulled out her phone and after a few moments of navigation, texted him (he'd named his contact "THE SUPERSIZED McSHIZZLE MAN," it wasn't hard to find). With a start, she realized it was all in Ancient Greek. Hey. Just got in here. Everything is white, it's like a freaking hospital. What's with the Greek?

He replied almost immediately. You can read Greek. It'll look like English to regular mortals.

Cool!

Yeah, I'm a genius.

She smiled to herself. They think I'm unpacking. Probably should do that.

Text me later!

I'll call you.

Deal. Festus, no!

She laughed a little, assuming he used voice texting. "Weirdo," she murmured, then opened her bag. After a moment of deliberation, she put everything away, then grabbed a few choice items and put them in the backpack: ambrosia, nectar, her dagger, and her CHB shirt. She had decided to tell them about her heritage immediately, then hope she didn't get kicked out.

She zipped up the bag and walked to the door, but just as her hand touched the knob, she heard a scream from the living room.

Whew, long chapter and a cliff-hanger! Hey, at least I'm not Uncle Rick and my cliff-hangers aren't literal... still salty about Tartarus.